There it was, buried deep into Rick Reilly’s Washington Post piece. January, 4, 2016. Oh, not because the piece was all wrong – after all, its gist was pitting “the NFL’s funniest and freshest coach, Mike McDaniel, against the NFL’s frumpiest and frowniest, Bill Belichick.” And it did that. In scads.
No, the date was an afterthought, But one that was key to the entire story. For that was the day Mike McDaniel had the last drink of his life.
The Palm Beach Post’s Hal Habib played up the date though. And then some. Riffing how McDaniel’s show of vulnerability might not have been the move in the NFL of old. But that this new NFL has room to respect the newcomer who’s put down the drink.
“This isn’t how it’s done in the NFL. At least not if you’re going by the book. Especially Day One of training camp, it’s all about strength. You’re strong; the guy next to you is strong; everybody is Hercules. Weakness? There’s no weakness in football. Everybody knows that.”
Mike McDaniel violated that Day One Training Camp protocol Wednesday. At least on the surface, he did. He stepped to the podium and without prodding, he spoke about weakness. His own weakness, to be specific: alcoholism.”
“And with it, McDaniel sounded strong. Stronger than he ever has in such a setting. Because it was in his ability to bring up this subject before all the microphones and cameras, in a setting where it’s possible his message could be misconstrued, McDaniel in essence told us he’s as committed as ever to continue living his life by saying no to the bottle.”
Yeah, that strong.
The backstory:
“There was a time that alcoholism derailed McDaniel’s career, temporarily. A firing in Houston, bottles discovered in the team facility in Cleveland, the smell of alcohol during meetings in Atlanta — all this was holding back a coach everybody said was wasting his smarts.
“Except when Falcons co-workers confronted him, McDaniel showed how smart he was. He accepted their willingness to help him achieve sobriety. In only a few scattered, one-on-one interviews, McDaniel has said he last had a drink on Jan. 4, 2016. A year later, he told USA Today he had “zero desire” to ever drink again.”
Yeah, again, that strong.
You can be certain the Dolphins did plenty of research to confirm this before hiring him 1½ years ago.
“At his first media session of the 2023 preseason Wednesday, McDaniel, 40, reinforced that in a way you didn’t see coming. Asked a question he has heard before, about his “adversity is opportunity” credo, McDaniel traced it back to his bout with alcoholism, broaching the subject for the first time at the podium.”
“The obsessiveness that I have with it (is) probably when I became sober,” he said.
SEOAnd with that Miami Dolphins’ Head Coach Mike McDaniel showed what it is to be so sober folks don’t even know you’re about sobriety.
Healing Properties has been helping South Florida men find sobriety since 2002; we wholeheartedly welcome Mike McDaniel to the fold. In fact, we’re amped to have him lighting the way!
Image Gregory Reed Shutterstock.